Research about job satisfaction at transport and industry development investment join stock company

Result: The results support the hypothesis that Job Interdependence, Supervisory Support, Developmental Experiences, and Job Role Discretion have positively relationship with employee’s

RESEARCH PROJECT

(BMBR5103)

RESEARCH ABOUT JOB SATISFACTION

AT TRANSPORT AND INDUSTRY

DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT JOIN

ADVISOR’S ASSESSMENT

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Advisor’s signature

Nguyen The Khai, DBA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to acknowledge the help of several individuals because without their assistance, guidance, and understanding this research would not have been possible Firstly, I am very grateful to my advisor DBA Khai Nguyen His patience, time, and commitment, in addition to his constant encouragement, effort, constructive comments, support, and individualized attention were a major source of inspiration Thank you for trusting in me The other members of my committee were also great assets

Thanks to the board of managers and all employees of TRACODI for their

precious comments and helps to collect data for this thesis

I wish to give my sincerest and deepest gratitude to my family and all of

my sweet friends for their encouragement, and great support

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLE 5

ABSTRACT 6

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 7

1.1 INTRODUCTION OF TRACODI 7

1.1.1 Company Description 7

1.1.2 History and Milestones 8

1.1.3 Organizational structure of TRACODI 11

1.2 RESEARCH INTRODUCTION 11

1.2.1 Motivation of the study 11

1.2.2 Significance of the study 13

1.2.3 Purpose of the study 13

1.2.4 Question of the study 13

CHAPTER 2: LITTERATURE REVIEW 14

2.1 DEFINITION OF CONSTRUCTS 14

2.1.1 Job satisfaction 14

2.1.2 Job Interdependence 14

2.1.3 Supervisory Support 15

2.1.4 Developmental Experiences 16

2.1.5 Job Role Discretion 16

2.2 THEORY OF JOB SATISFACTION 18

2.2.1 Job satisfaction theories traceable to employee performance 18

2.2.2 Two-factor theory 18

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES 23

3.1 RESEARCH MODEL 23

3.1.1 Dependent Variables 23

3.1.2 Independent Variables 23

3.2 CONSTRUCTS 24

3.3 SUMMARY OF HYPOTHESES 24

3.4 DATA COLLECTION 24

3.5 MEASURE OF EACH CONSTRUCT 25

3.5.1 Job Satisfaction 25

3.5.2 Job Interdependence 27

3.5.3 Supervisory Support 29

3.5.4 Developmental Experiences 30

3.5.5 Job Role Discretion 31

3.6 DATA ANALYSIS 33

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH 34

4.1 DATA ANALYSIS 34

4.2 RELIABILITY STATISTICS 35

4.2.1 Main Construct – Job Satisfaction 35

4.2.2 Construct: Job interdependence 35

4.2.3 Construct: Supervisory Support 35

4.2.4 Construct: Developmental Experiences 35

4.2.5 Construct: Job Role Discretion 36

4.3 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS 36

4.4 CORRELATIONS STATISTIC 37

4.5 HYPOTHESIS TESTING RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 39

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 42

5.1 CONCLUSIONS 42

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE RESEARCH RESULTS 42

5.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH 44

5.4 LIMITATION OF RESEARCH 44

5.5 FURTHER RESEARCH DIRECTIONS 44

REFERENCES 45

APPENDIX 49

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY 49

APPENDIX 2: PRESENTATION 57

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLE

FIGURE

Figure 1: Organizational Chart of TRACODI - 11

Figure 2: Proposed Research Model of Employee Job Satisfaction in TRACODI 23 TABLE Table 1: Cronbach's Alpha- Internal consistency 34

Table 2: Cronbach's Alpha of Construct Job Satisfaction 35

Table 3: Cronbach's Alpha of Construct Job Interdependence 35

Table 4: Cronbach's Alpha of Construct Supervisory Support 35

Table 5: Cronbach's Alpha of Construct Developmental Experiences 35

Table 6: Cronbach's Alpha of Construct Job Role Discretion 36

Table 7: Descriptive Statistics 36

Table 8: Correlations 38

Table 9: Model Summary 39

Table 10: Coefficients a 40

Table 11: Hypothesis Statistics 40

regression analysis Result: The results support the hypothesis that Job

Interdependence, Supervisory Support, Developmental Experiences, and Job Role Discretion have positively relationship with employee’s job satisfaction

Conclusion: The findings in this study would help managers of TRACODI to

formulate strategies that involved work factors such as distributive and procedural justice to improve the management of human resource development These strategies would help to influence positive behaviors among employees, and hence achieve effectiveness and high productivity in the organization Therefore, it was worth the effort for the organization to train and educate their managers on the impact of perceptions of organizational justice on the motivation and commitment

of their employees

Keywords: Job satisfaction, Job Interdependence, Supervisory Support, Developmental Experiences, and Job Role Discretion

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

I would like to introduce a research about “Job Satisfaction: Factors affecting

it in Transport And Industry Development Investment Join Stock Company (TRACODI)”

1.1 INTRODUCTION OF TRACODI

1.1.1 Company Description

TRANSPORT AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT

(TRACODI) was established by the General Shareholders Meeting on March, 27 2013, it has been officially changed from one member limited liability company investments Industrial Development and Transportation (TRACODI Co., Ltd.) to a joint stock company since April 04, 2013

The precursor of TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT JOINT STOCK COMPANY (TRACODI) is

(TRACODI) – State-owned Enterprise directly under the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, established under Decision No 1988/QD/TCCB-LD on 10/30/1990

Address: 89 Cach Mang Thang 8, Ben Thanh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Spread over more than 20 years of construction and development, TRACODI constantly sustainable development, stability and assert it position, creating prestigious brands in the fields of construction traffic , industrial and civil; labor export service, import and export goods services and tourism services; joint ventures in the country and abroad; projects investment

From small initial capital mainly office equipment with less than 10 employees, the Company has developed a long way in all areas of production and business activities, the Company owns capital can apply to participate in major projects with over 300 employees and labor management field

With expanded strategic direction and continued growth, TRACODI is ready into joint ventures with enterprises at home and abroad for business and production

in the fields of investment, industrial production, construction, labor export, import

and export goods, travel, etc (“Source: www.tracodi.com.vn”)

1.1.2 History and Milestones

TRACODI is abbreviated from its English name of TRAnsport and COmmunication Development Investment Joint Stock Company TRACODI is a

State-owned Enterprise established on 30/10/1990 according to the Decision No 1190/QD/TCCB-LD issued by the Minister of Ministry of Transport

Stage 1990 – 1995

With the first function of consulting foreign investment in mainly transport and communication field, TRACODI has successfully consulted many projects as well as joined many projects with foreign owned capital

On 02/05/1992 VIETNAM TAXI COMPANY (VINATAXI) was established between TRACODI and Tecobest Investment Ltd (Hongkong) This is a public transportation, calculating charges by taxi meter firstly in Vietnam

On 24/08/1993 VIKO MIXED ASPHALT AND BATCHED CONCRETE CO., LTD (DONGAH-TRACO) was established between TRACODI and Transport and Communication Mechanical Enterprise No 2 and Dong-Ah Construction Industrial Co., Ltd (Korea),

On 07/09/1994 AN GIANG BUILDING MATERIAL EXPLOITING AND PROCESSING CO., LTD (ANTRACO) was established between TRACODI and

An Giang

On 11/09/1995 TELENZ-TRACODI ENGINEERING INVESTMENT AND CONSTRUCTION CO., LTD (TELENZ-TRACODI) was established between TRACODI and Telenz International Ltd and Fletcher Construction New Zealand & South Pacific Limited (New Zealand)

In the years 1994, 1995 construction activity developed, TRACODI was awarded many industrial projects Its enterprises were established in turn as Construction Enterprise No 1, Construction Enterprise No 2, Construction Enterprise No 3, Construction Enterprise No 4, Center Construction Enterprise

On 24/07/1993 LABOUR MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING CENTER (TRACODI-LAMATCEN) was established

Also in 1993 Ha Noi People’s Committee granted the Licence for establishing TRACODI Branch - Representative Office in Ha Noi

Stage 1996 – 2000

On 30/12/1996 TRACODI co-operated with Thien Nam Co (Vietnam) and Caltex Kuo Pte Ltd (Singapore) for establishing CALTEX BITUMEN VIETNAM LIMITED with mainly activity of import, storage, mix, package and distribution of bitum

On 18/09/1996 the Department of Tourism granted the licence for establishing TRACODI TOURIST CENTER (TRACODI TOURIST)

On 18/05/1999 the foreign partner of TELENZ-TRACODI Joint Venture Company was replaced by Keppel Communication Pte Ltd (Singapore) and the name was changed into FOLEC COMMUNICATIONS VIETNAM LTD (FOLEC VIETNAM) by the decision of the Ministry of Planning and Investment

On 03/07/2000 TRACODI Branch in Da Nang was established

During years 1997, 1998, 1999, TRACODI met many difficulties such as many projects had finished yet, outstanding debts from loan for investment

However, the situation gradually improved by the Board of Directors TRACODI recovered and developed step by step

In the end of 2002 TRACODI Party Committee decided to invest the industrial field for job creation After many months of study, TRACODI defended successfully the Pre-feasibility Study Report of Phuong Nam Kenaf Pulp Mill Project with capacity 100,000 MT/year in Long An province

On 16/06/2007 TRACODI was officially conversed into a one member limited liability company – Transport And Industry Development Investment Company Limited (TRACODI Co., Ltd.)

In 02/2008 TRACODI made a trial for producing Medium Density Fiber (MDF) board at Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut (WKI), Braunschweig, Germany to get figures for the Feasibility Study Report for investing and building Phuong Nam Melaleuca Medium Density Fiber Factory (Phuong Nam MDF)

On 10/06/2008 Long An Province People’s Committee and the State Capital Investment Corporation signed the Transferring Minutes to transfer the right to

represent the State-owned capital in TRACODI from Long An Province People’s Committee to the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC)

In 2008 TRACODI have being implemented to finish the process of structure company (equitization)

re-1.1.3 Organizational structure of TRACODI

Figure 1: Organizational Chart of TRACODI

1.2 RESEARCH INTRODUCTION

1.2.1 Motivation of the study

Human resource is a key factor for the success of an organization The satisfaction of their employees which make them work hard to offer to companies The measure of employee satisfaction to identify the factors which most impact on

employee satisfaction; Thus it can help companies better understand the level of satisfaction of employees From which it can help decision makers to improve the working environment, use the right people, exploitation of human resources in the company and bring the highest satisfaction for employees

Development trend of the economy: The economy is growing and opening up many opportunities to work for employees Competition among enterprises is increasingly high, but people are important resources in creating a competitive advantage for businesses The pressures from the economy, from a competitive market forcing businesses to pay more attention to the human factor in the organization, including issues made for employee satisfaction

How can business leaders recognize the system complex needs of workers, particularly the needs of the "talent" Through the study of the business activities in Vietnam, the study and understanding of the needs of the workers have not been implemented on a regular basis and disseminated The majority of enterprises still conduct transactions through unofficial channels and not be institutionalized into the corporate policies This makes it difficult now to know the heart, the real aspirations of employees

Consequence is very improbable that employees feel dissatisfied with their organization and looking to a new work environment, or still try to maintain but to work perfunctorily and inefficiently Moreover, the enterprise does not understand the needs of employees can create separation, detailed displacement between groups, the parts together, affect the performance of the business

For now, in the period of economic integration, competition increasingly fierce, human resource has an important role in creating a competitive advantage Especially with those businesses are on the rise, the search and confirmation its position on the market as Transport and Industry Development Investment Join Stock Company (TRACODI) present the more need to pay attention to employee satisfaction Promoting the development of the company at present assessing the satisfaction of the employees is very helpful

This research can be done as a landmark initial data for comparison during the development activities in the future the company may increase the satisfaction of employees? This is the first step for organizations that can increase employee loyalty to the company

1.2.2 Significance of the study

This study will be conducted from either managerial employees or managerial employees to exclude the bias of self-report The opinion of employees

non-in TRACODI about the impact of job non-interdependence, supervisory support, developmental experiences, and job role discretion on TRACODI employee job satisfaction will be collected to see what the being implemented side evaluates the company HRM policies

1.2.3 Purpose of the study

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the impact of job interdependence, supervisory support, developmental experiences, and job role discretion on TRACODI employee job satisfaction

1.2.4 Question of the study

This study addresses some points follow:

- How is the impact of Job Interdependence on TRACODI employee Job Satisfaction?

- How is the impact of Supervisory Support on TRACODI employee Job Satisfaction?

- How is the impact of Developmental Experiences on TRACODI employee Job Satisfaction?

- How is the impact of Job Role Discretion on TRACODI employee Job Satisfaction?

CHAPTER 2: LITTERATURE REVIEW 2.1 DEFINITION OF CONSTRUCTS

2.1.1 Job satisfaction

Locke (1969) defined job satisfaction as the extent to which the expectations that an individual holds for a job match what one actually receives from the job Job satisfaction can be characterized as an attitude concerning the extent to which people like or dislike their jobs (Spector, 1997) There are two common approaches

to the measurement of job satisfaction The global approach assesses job satisfaction based on an individual’s overall affective reaction to his or her job By contrast, the composite approach examines the pattern of attitudes a person holds regarding various facets of the job such as coworkers, fringe benefits, job conditions, nature of the work itself, policies and procedures, pay, and supervision (Spector, 1997) Individuals often differ in their degree of satisfaction across facets (e.g., someone may be very satisfied with supervision, but dissatisfied with pay) The distinction between the two measurement approaches is important as research has shown that there are only modest correlations between global and composite measures of job satisfaction (Scarpello & Campbell, 1983)

2.1.2 Job Interdependence

Job interdependence is a job attribute that has demonstrated motivational effects in many studies (Kiggundu, 1981, 1983; Van der Vegt & Van De Vliert, 2005; Wageman, 1995) More specifically, studies have reported a positive relationship between task interdependence and extrarole or cooperative behavior (Anderson & Williams, 1996; Pearce & Gregersen, 1991; Wageman & Baker, 1997) While some of these researchers have divided task interdependence into

“initiated” and “received” components, for our purposes we combined these into

“reciprocated” task interdependence, as developed by Pearce and Gregersen (1991), accepting their argument that initiated and received interdependence have too high a covariance to be viewed as independent constructs Regardless of the type of task interdependence studied, one theoretical basis as to why task

interdependence leads to cooperative behavior is that the interactive nature of the tasks contributes to experienced responsibility for the other’s outcomes (Kiggundu, 1983; Pearce & Gregersen, 1991) A second theoretical grounding for the motivating effects of task interdependence relies on the view that an employee with

a long-term time horizon will contribute to other workers efforts if they believe their coworkers will reciprocate This common human tendency has been incorporated into organizational behavior literature from sociology, namely from social exchange theory (Blau, 1964), and the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960)

2.1.3 Supervisory Support

Supervisor support is defined as employees’ belief concerning the extent to which supervisors value their contributions and care about their well-being Employees need motivation to expend greater efforts and more personal resources

in innovative tasks when supervisor exhibit their individual consideration toward followers, followers are likely to perceive the warmth and consideration from their supervisors Similarly, employees who perceive support from their supervisors often feel obligated to pay back supervisors’ favors or kindness by helping supervisors to reach their stated goals (Eisenberger et al 2002) Jung et al (2003) indicated that leadership is positively associated with employee-perceived empowerment and support for innovation Creativity and innovation is an area where supervisors can have a strong impact on employee creativity through their influence on the context within which employees work (Shalley and Gilson, 2004)

In order for innovative behavior to occur, supervisor needs to foster, encourage, and support creativity (Shalley and Gilson, 2004)

Janssen (2003) found evidence that employees responded more innovatively

to higher levels of job demands when they perceived that their efforts were fairly rewarded by their supervisor Oldham and Cummings (1996) found that supportive, non-controlling supervisors created a work environment that fostered creativity Open interactions with supervisors and the receipt of encouragement and support lead to enhanced employee creativity (Tierney, Farmer, and Graen 1999) This

means that employees who perceive a fair balance between supervisor’s inducements relative to their work efforts will respond with more innovative behavior According to social exchange theory additional arguments can be derived for a relationship between supervisor support and innovative behavior Direct supervisors can act as organizational agents Employees tend to view actions by agents of the organization as actions of the organization itself Therefore, they reward favorable supervisor treatment with desired behaviors

2.1.4 Developmental Experiences

Developmental job experience as an individual’s experience of taking on demanding assignments that offer opportunity for learning and leadership The extent to which an assignment brings developmental job experience can depend on how the particular employee views the opportunity in his or her own mind Developmental assignments usually share some common features: unfamiliar responsibilities, opportunity to create change, high levels of responsibility, working across boundaries, and managing diversity (Yuntao Dong, Myeong-Gu Seo, and Kathryn M Bartol, 2014)

Developmental job experience is associated with growth and future benefits as well as with substantial risks and uncertainty Depending on whether an individual perceives the assignment as a challenge or a threat, combined with their ability to use coping skills, he or she will experience pleasant or unpleasant feelings These feelings lead to an overall positive or negative outcome The authors examined advancement potential as a positive outcome and turnover intention as a negative outcome in the study The authors explained that because developmental job experience can contribute to both pleasant and unpleasant feelings at the same time, both positive and negative outcomes can occur

2.1.5 Job Role Discretion

The notion of discretion occurs when someone has the freedom and authority

to take action and is aware of this freedom (Finkelstem et al., 2009, p 26; Hackman

& Oldham, 1975) A definition on discretion in the English Dictionary for

Advanced Learners (2001, p 435) is: “if someone in a position of authority uses their discretion or has the discretion to do something in a particular situation, (hey have the freedom and authority to decide what to do” It may occur in different forms like employee, job or managerial discretion that all are used in the literature This study takes the main focus on job discretion that is involved with the extent of discretion that belongs to a certain job Job discretion can be seen as an extension of the concept of managerial discretion Furthermore, job discretion is closely related

to the concept of job autonomy Both managerial discretion and job autonomy are discussed to provide insights on the differences and similarities, resulting in better understanding of job discretion

This is also known as “job autonomy” and is explained in the organizational behavior literature by Hackman and Oldham (1975, p 162) as “the degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the employee

in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out” Employees are given discretion by their employers to carry out tasks to be completed in a specified amount of time, rather than being told what to do at every moment (Prendergast, 2002) This implies that job autonomy refers to the extent of discretion about how to execute the job Therefore discretion and autonomy are similar in addressing the extent of freedom in organizational or work related decisions and thus these concepts are tightly linked to each other

All employees have a certain degree of discretion that is given by the way their job is designed It is clear that an agency issue may arise within the employment relationship when an organization provides more discretion towards the employees An employee will try to maximize his own value at (lie expense of the organization, meanwhile the organization wishes to maximize profit This conflict of interest illustrates a fundamental agency problem and is quite general, since it exists in all organizations and in all cooperative efforts (Jensen & Meckling, 1976) Higher job discretion provides more leeway to the employee to choose from

a certain range of effort levels In order to sustain effort at higher levels of

discretion and induce workers not to settle at their lowest possible point in the effort range, an organization must provide a financial motivation

2.2 THEORY OF JOB SATISFACTION

2.2.1 Job satisfaction theories traceable to employee performance

Job satisfaction at its most general conceptualization, is simply how content

an individual is with his job Simply stated, job satisfaction refers to the attributes and feelings people have about their work Positive and favourable attitudes towards the job indicate job satisfaction Negative and unfavourable attitudes towards the job indicate job dissatisfaction Armstrong (2003) This satisfaction may

be affective: one-dimensional subjective construct representing an overall emotional feeling individuals have about their job as a whole Kalleberg (1977) and Moorman (1993)

It may also be cognitive: more objective or logical evaluation of various facets

of a job Cognitive job satisfaction does not assess the degree of pleasure or happiness that arises from specific job facets, but rather gauges the extent to which those job facets are judged by the job holder to be satisfactory in comparison with objectives they themselves set or with other jobs The two constructs are distinct, not directly related, have different antecedents and consequences though cognitive job satisfaction might help to bring about affective job satisfaction in the organization

2.2.2 Two-factor theory

Among the content theories of motivation, Herzberg (1959) theory emphasizing the motivator-hygiene factors sought to explain satisfaction and motivation in the organization The theory focuses on outcomes of satisfaction and dissatisfaction The theory further found that certain aspects of a job cause satisfaction and therefore motivation, but certain aspects caused job dissatisfaction Herzberg explained that the factors that lead to satisfaction or to dissatisfaction are different Accordingly, he states that ‘the opposite of job satisfaction is not job dissatisfaction but, rather, no satisfaction; and the opposite of job dissatisfaction is

not job satisfaction but no satisfaction’ (Herzberg, 2003.91) This theory states that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction is a product of different factors - motivation and hygiene respectively Motivation is seen as an inner force that drives individuals to attain personal and organizational goals Motivational factors are those aspects of the job that make people want to perform and provide people with satisfaction Hygiene factors include aspects of the working environment like working conditions, interpersonal matters, organizational policies and so on (Hackman & Oldham, 1976) Factors that relate to job satisfaction are therefore called satisfiers

or motivators According to Weir (1976) and Syptak, Marsland & Ulmer (1999), the following factors stood out as ‘strong determinants of job satisfaction’

Achievement: This requires helping and placing employees in position that

use their talents and not to set up for failure It is achieved by setting clear, achievable goals and standards for each position, and making sure employees know what those goals and strategies are Individuals should also receive regular, timely feedback on how they are doing and feel they are adequately challenged in their jobs

Recognition: Refers to the honour, favourable note or attention given to an

employee for a ‘job well done’ or an outstanding behaviour Individuals at all levels

in the organization want to be recognized for their achievement on the job The individual’s success does not have to be monumental before they deserve recognition Employees should be acknowledged for doing something well immediately after their good work Publicly appreciating them for finding solutions

to a problem, writing a note of praise, establishing a formal recognition program like ‘employee of the month or year’, making periodic reports directly available to the employees themselves rather than to management, are some of the ways of recognizing employees

Work itself: This involves helping employees believe that the task they are

doing is important and meaningful Setting goals and reminding and emphasizing that their efforts lead to and contribute to positive outcomes and goal

accomplishment is crucial Success stories and cases should be shared on how an employee’s actions made a real difference in the organization Also show employees how their work is essential to the overall processes that make the practice succeed Unnecessary tasks can be eliminated or streamlined to bring about greater efficiency in the organization

Responsibility: Responsibility is taken action for ones actions Granting

additional authority to employees in their activity, giving them enough job freedom and power so that they feel they ‘own’ the results are ways of giving them responsibility As employees grow, they can be provided opportunities for added responsibility by adding challenging and meaningful work

Opportunity for advancement or promotion: This involves electing

employees from the present job or position to a higher one or level in the organization If possible permit and support them to acquire higher certificates so that they could become experts themselves and make them more valuable to the practice and more fulfilled individuals

Factors that relate to job dissatisfaction (dissatisfiers or hygiene factors) as explained by Herzberg are:

Pay (salary): Organizations, they say, ‘pay get what they pay for’ Salary is a

contractual agreement between the employer and the employee It not a motivator for them but do want to be paid fairly and when due If an employee perceives that

he is not fairly compensated, he will not be happy and so slow the pace of performance Comparable salaries and benefits, clear policies relating to salaries, increments, bonuses and benefits must be clearly indicated to avoid dissatisfaction

Supervision: This involves technical and general supervision in the

organization Wise decisions should be taken when it comes to appointing someone

to the role of supervising This role is difficult and requires good leadership skills and the ability to treat all employees fairly There should also be positive feedback and a set means of evaluating or appraising employees

Working conditions: The environment under which employees work has a

tremendous effect on their level of pride for themselves and for the work they do The provision of modern equipment and facilities, quality furniture, well ventilated offices, well spaced offices, secured, well spaced staff quarters, and so on are some

of the conditions that are required to prevent job dissatisfaction in the organization

Company policies, administration and procedures: An organization’s

policies, administration and procedures can be a great source of frustration for employees if the policies and procedures are unclear or unnecessary or if those to follow are selected A policy permits an employee to use his discretion and initiatives in the discharge of his duties Policies may not make employees satisfied and motivated but it can decrease dissatisfaction by making policies fair and applicable to all Policy issues should be documented (manual) and distributed to employees, their inputs should be solicited for while comparing policies to those of similar practices Policies should also be reviewed from time to time Helping employees to use their initiatives can also go a long way in preventing dissatisfaction

Interpersonal relationships: Relating well with peers, managers and

subordinates encourages job dissatisfaction Part of the satisfaction in employment contract is the social contact it brings to employees Reasonable time should be given for socializing This will help to develop a sense of teamwork and at the same time cracking down on rudeness, difficult behaviour and offensive comments People should be encouraged to live in harmony irrespective of cultural and other diversities

Status: This is a person’s social rank in a group, which often is determined by

a person’s characteristics, in addition to the person’s formal position When status differ, it may be difficult to communicate effectively in the organization To reduce dissatisfaction, managers should use both verbal and nonverbal forms of communications to pass messages to employees with the highest level of probability that the information circulated will be intact The issue of status should

also be diluted to avoid a situation whereby those with higher status will not influence members having lower status Individual status should not be a yard stick for motivation

Security: Security in this case refers to job security - freedom from threats of

layoffs, frequent queries, harassment, discrimination, bullying and so on When there is no job security, an employee’s needs for higher growth will be blocked If

he works hard but security does not return, he will seek to fulfil his needs elsewhere

or burn out While motivators are part of the job content and relate to what people actually do in their work hygiene or dissatisfies are often associated with job context: associated more to the work setting than the nature of work itself

H1 H2 H3 H4

+

+ +

+

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES

The primary goal of this study is to investigate the effects of Job Interdependence, Supervisory Support, Developmental Experiences, and Job Role Discretion to employee Job Satisfaction in TRACODI The methodology specifically described the research model, the research instrument, the research hypothesis, data collection process, and the procedure for the data analysis

 Developmental Experiences (DE)

 Job Role Discretion (JRD)

3.3 SUMMARY OF HYPOTHESES

My model suggests that the effects of Job Interdependence, Supervisory Support, Developmental Experiences, and Job Role Discretion to employee Job Satisfaction Thus, the following hypotheses are proposed:

 Hypotheses 1: Job Interdependence will be positively related to employee

job satisfaction in TRACODI

 Hypotheses 2: Supervisory Support will be positively related to employee

job satisfaction in TRACODI

 Hypotheses 3: Developmental Experiences will be positively related to

employee job satisfaction in TRACODI

 Hypotheses 4: Job Role Discretion will be positively related to employee

job satisfaction in TRACODI

The questionnaires were sent out by email to all 310 employees for printing out and fill in 290 responses were returned in which only 272 were usable Making the overall response rate at around 88 percent The data analyses used in this research are based on the survey results of these 272 respondents

3.5 MEASURE OF EACH CONSTRUCT

Description

This measure, developed by Spector (1985), uses 36 items to describe nine job facets (four items per facet) The job facets include pay, promotion, supervision, benefits, contingent rewards, operating procedures, CO-workers, nature of work, and communication It was originally developed to assess job satisfaction in human service, nonprofit, and public organizations

Source

Spector, P (1997) Job satisfaction Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Copyright ©

1997 by Sage Publications, Inc Items were taken from the appendix, pp 75-76 Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc

Items

Responses are obtained on a 5-point Likert-type scale where 1 = disagree very much, 2 = disagree moderately, 3 = agree slightly, 4 = agree moderately, and 5 = agree very much

Items denoted with (R) are reverse scored

Pay satisfaction items:

1 I feel I am being paid a fair amount for the work I do

2 Raises are too few and far between (R)

3 I am unappreciated by the organization when I think about what they pay me (R)

4 I feel satisfied with my chances for salary increases

Promotion satisfaction items:

1 There is really too little chance for promotion on my job (R)

2 Those who do well on the job stand a fair chance of being promoted

3 People get ahead as fast here as they do in other places

4 I am satisfied with my chances for promotion

Supervision satisfaction items:

1 My supervisor is quite competent in doing his/her job

2 My supervisor is unfair to me (R)

3 My supervisor shows too little interest in the feelings of subordinates (R)

4 I like my supervisor

Benefits satisfaction items:

1 I am not satisfied with the benefits I receive (R)

2 The benefits we receive are as good as most other organizations offer

3 The benefit package we have is equitable (R)

4 There are benefits we do not have which we should have (R)

Rewards satisfaction items:

1 When I do a good job, I receive the recognition for it that I should receive

2 I do not feel that the work I do is appreciated (R)

3 There are few rewards for those who work here (R)

4 I don’t feel my efforts are rewarded the way they should be CR)

Operating procedure satisfaction items:

1 Many of our rules and procedures make doing a good job difficult (R)

2 My efforts to do a good job are seldom blocked by red tape

3 I have too much to do at work (R)

4 I have too much paperwork (R)

Co-workers satisfaction items:

1 I like the people I work with

2 I find I have to work harder at my job than I should because of the incompetence of people I work with (R) ,

3 I enjoy my co-workers

4 There is too much bickering and fighting at work (R)

Work itself satisfaction items:

1 I sometimes feel my job is meaningless (R)

2 I like doing the things I do at work

3 I feel a sense of pride in doing my job

4 My job is enjoyable

Communication satisfaction items:

1 Communications seem good within this organization

2 The goals of this organization are not clear to me (R)

3 I often feel that I do not know what is going on with the organization (R)

4 Work assignments are often not fully explained (R)

Description

This measure, developed by Pearce and Gregersen (1991), describes the interdependence of a job along two dimensions The first dimension reflects reciprocal interdependence with other jobs (measured with five items) The second dimension reflects the extent to which an employee works independently of other employees to complete their tasks (measured with three items) The two subscales can also be combined into a single measure of job interdependence (Anderson & Williams, 1996)

Reliability

Coefficient alpha was 76 for interdependence and 61 for independence (Pearce & Gregersen, 1991) Coefficient alpha for the subscales combined into a single measure was 85 (Anderson & Williams, 1996)

Validity

Reciprocal interdependence correlated negatively with independence and with the cost of seeking help Interdependence correlated positively with felt responsibility, help-seeking behavior, and quality of exchange relationship with other workers (Anderson & Williams, 1996; Pearce & Gregersen, 1991) In Anderson and Williams (1996), ratings of interdependence between pairs of co-workers were positively correlated

Source

Pearce, J L., & Gregersen, H B (1991) Task interdependence and extra-role behavior: A test of the mediating effects of felt responsibility Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(6), 838-844 Items were taken from Table 1, p 841 Copyright ©

1991 by the American Psychological Association Reprinted with permission

Items

Response are obtained using a Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree

Interdependence items:

1 I work closely with others in doing my work

2 I frequently must coordinate my efforts with others

3 My own performance is dependent on receiving accurate information from others

4 The way I perform my job has a significant impact on others

5 My work requires me to consult with others fairly frequently

Independence items:

6 I work fairly independently of others in my work

7 I can plan my own work with little need to coordinate with others

8 I rarely have to obtain information from others to complete my work

Description

This measure was developed by Greenhaus, Parasuraman, and Wormley (1990) to assess employee perceptions of the extent to which they receive supervisory support in their job In general, supervisory support may include career guidance, performance feedback, challenging work assignments, work opportunities that promote employee development and visibility

Source

Greenhaus, J H., Parasuraman, A., & Wormley, W M (1990), Effects of race

on organizational experiences, job performance evaluations, and care outcomes Academy of Management Journal, 33(1), 64-86 © 1990 in Academy of Management Items were taken from the appendix, pp.85-86 Reproduced with permission of Academy of Management in the format textbook via Copyright Clearance Center